Gasoline
by Durrr
Summary: Kanna pulls the child close to her chest as a frown dawns her face. "Mother? What is it?" Hakoda senses her discomfort. Kanna turns, the baby wiggling in her arms. "She is ice cold." [AU Zutara]


"Kya you have to push harder dear. You need to give me one more big push. Big push." Kanna consulted the birthing woman with her feet positioned high into the air. The other woman present, Takira, was wiping the sweat rolling from Kya's forehead. It was sweltering in the bedroom.

Kya screams at the top of her lungs as she gives this last push her all. This baby needs to come out _now._

Kanna lets a smile grace her lips before giving the newborn a gentle slap on the bottom. Her cries fill the house. Hakoda passes the threshold seconds later, kneeling to Kya's side and grasping her hand. He leaves kisses all along her face, whispering encouraging words and praises of love.

Takira helps wrap the baby into a blanket before handing her off to Kanna. She pulls the child close to her chest as a frown dawns her face.

"Mother? What is it?" Hakoda senses her discomfort.

Kanna turns, the baby wiggling in her arms.

"She is ice cold."

* * *

She is four years old when it first happens. She and her older brother Sokka are in the backyard playing in the freshly fallen snow. Sokka throws a snowball right at her back and she shrieks at the sudden blow. He laughs at her while she turns around and points her finger in his direction, ready with a war cry when suddenly a thin layer of snow resting on the ground lifts into the air and heads straight for Sokka. The snow movements match the movements of Katara's hand. She throws her pointer finger at him and the snow swiftly follows. It feels like the wind blowing snow onto your face. It's a dusting and nothing more.

But there is no wind this afternoon.

Katara is shaking. Her eyes settled intently on her hands. She's brought them closer to her face, her fingers bent in all sorts of angles. She looks over to her brother who is also frozen in his place.

"Did-did you..." Sokka cannot form the sentence aloud.

Forgetting their game, she turns on her heel and runs inside with a scream.

* * *

They tell her to hide it. They tell her to never do it. They tell her she needs to keep this secret for the rest of her life. No one can know.

They don't consult a doctor for fear of someone catching wind and then the whole neighborhood will know. They don't know if anyone else is this way but Kya does her research. Nothing yet so far. They fear people won't understand. They fear she'll be outcast. They fear she'll be made out as a witch.

Katara does as they say and continues to keep it below the surface. She tries her hardest to not think about it, to shove it away in the darkest corner of her mind, to keep it buried down so deep that she forgets about it entirely.

But such things are not so simple.

As the years pass, she can feel the water sources wherever she goes. Water flowing, sitting, in the pipes, underground, in the sky, and even in other people's bodies. It's getting harder to block out and harder to ignore.

Still, she does as she is told. She pushes it further into the dark parts of her head and locks the gate.

* * *

Katara has just turned nine. It's a full moon tonight and she cannot for the life of her fall asleep. She has school in the morning and it is almost midnight. Her mom and dad will be upset if they knew she was still awake. So she turns her little television on but keeps the volume really low. Maybe the white noise of the TV will help her fall asleep.

Her bedroom drapes are open while she stares up at the night sky. Her eyes are slowly shaping the circle of the moon when she feels it. She starts to feel dizzy and lightheaded. Her joints ache like she's been using them for eighty-five years. A chill runs through her body and creates goose bumps on the surface of her skin. She swiftly wraps her blanket around herself, desperately trying to stay warm.

She reaches for her glass of water and before her fingers graze the cup, the water inside comes out of the cup and hangs in the air. With her arm still stretched out, she moves her hand to the right and the bubble of water follows. She moves it to the left and it follows again. Unsure of what to do, she shrikes and lets her arm fall. The water goes back into the cup with a plop.

Katara examines her hand, curious as ever. She's subsided these powers for the past five years. Why show up now? "Why did it do that? How did you do that? I wasn't trying anything!" She shrieks. "Am I-getting stronger?" She questions herself.

"Katara?" Kya opens her door cautiously.

"Mommy!" Katara's shout brings Kya to her bedside with opens her arms. Katara buries her head in the crook of her mothers neck.

"What happened sweetie? I heard you yelling." Kya rubs circles on her back.

"The water moved again Mommy! I didn't do anything. I don't feel good." Katara mumbles into her mother's skin.

"Shhhh. It's okay. It's all going to be okay." Kya does her best to soothe her daughter. She hopes Katara can't hear the shaking in her voice.

* * *

It's winter and snow is falling quietly outside. The clock reads 6:37 pm. Hakoda had just left with Sokka for a basketball game. Katara and her mother decided to stay home and watch Christmas movies together. Katara gets up and goes to grab a sweater from her room.

While rummaging through her closet, there is a knock at the front door and she can hear her mother open it. Loud footsteps echo in the living room and she can hear the door being locked. A deep voice echoes and bounces off the walls. That voice is too deep to be her fathers.

Slowly, and very quietly, Katara makes her way to the hallway and hides behind a corner. Her heart is beating so loudly in her ears that she strains to listens to the conversation in the living room. She can hear her mother speaking.

"I am the only one home. My husband and kids are at a basketball game. What exactly are you looking-" she is interrupted.

"We know what you have been searching for. We have been tracing your internet searches. Tell us who in this house carries the ability." The voice, definitely a male, speaks to her mother.

Katara bites her tongue from gasping.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about. Now if you'll please leave my home." Kya steps towards the door. But the gun in her back stops her from unlocking it.

"We work for a gentleman who needs those with abilities. If you surrender them, they will come with us and we will have no problems. Understand?" His voice is not so gentle.

Kya pivots her body to look at the men. Both are dressed in slim black suits. The one with the gun is very built, from his shoulders to his thighs he looks extremely strong. He has no hair and his eyes are brown. The other one, the quiet one who keeps looking around the living room, looks less strong but he is incredibly tall. His black hair is pulled back with gel and he has tattoos on his hands.

"If I surrender the one with abilities, you'll leave?" She questions. Her voice does not falter and her gaze does not wander. She remains calm.

Katara does not move and she keeps her breathing even and quiet. These men don't expect her to be in the house. She's just lucky that they haven't done any sort of snooping.

Kya looks straight into his eyes. "I am the one you are looking for. I am the one with the abilities."

"NO MOM!" Katara runs into the room and then everything slows down. Both men point their guns towards Katara.

She can hear the gunshot.  
She can see the bullet.  
She swears she see's her life flash before her eyes.

And then she watches Kya jump in front of her. Blood splatters onto her face as the bullet lodges itself into the wall that is next to her.

Kya falls to the ground without a pulse. Before Katara can scream, another shot is fired and a bullet pierces her shoulder. She shouts and falls onto her back in the hallway. She blacks out.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The strong man shouts. He shoves his partner. "You just killed them both!" The tall one shrugs.

"She saw our faces. The one we wanted got herself killed. Let's go before the rest of the family returns." He says.

"You need to work on your trigger finger. You're lucky you have a silencer on." They leave the house and speed away before anyone notices.

* * *

 _'Am I dead?'_

Katara blinks very, very slowly. Pain. All she feels is pain. She takes a deep breath and cries out from the pain. With her eyes now open, she turns her head very slowly from side to side. Next to her is the body of her mother. She's not sure if Kya is alive but she needs to find out immediately. She tries sitting up but is pushed back down by the ferocious burning in her right shoulder. She looks down to it. It's a bullet wound. Blood is everywhere.

 _'Use us.'_

Katara shakes her head. _Who the hell said that?_

 _'Use us to help.'_

Katara is pretty sure she is losing her mind. Maybe its the blood loss. She closes her eyes to focus.

 _'Use us to heal.'_

Katara's eyes snap open. Every instinct is telling her what to do. Every fiber in her being is telling her to use this gift-this power. But how? Katara has no idea how to use it. She's kept it buried down so deep that she hasn't ever tried to wield it.

 _'Focus.'_

So she does. She focuses on the sources around her, on her breathing, her blood flow, her movements. She can feel the water inside of her. She can feel it in the vase on the side table next to the couch, the water under the house, the drips from the kitchen sink faucet.

 _'Pull.'_

So she does. She raises her left hand and imagines pulling. She pulls, and pulls until the vase breaks and the water rushes out. It circles her hand and Katara is terrified. She's never done this before. She places her hand on her shoulder, testing to see if this magic will work.

Before long, the water starts to glow. Katara's eyes go wide. It is still terrifying but it is also quite beautiful.

Once the water stops glowing, Katara drops the water. She inspects the wound, but it is no longer there. Her breath is ragged and she is trembling.

She sits up immediately and hovers over her mother, shoving back all of her questions and wonders about this healing power. A sob escapes her throat. Her tears gather quickly.

"Oh-oh mom."

Kya's eyes are already lifeless. Katara knows if she checks for a pulse she won't find one. But to ease her troubled mind, she reaches her two fingers to Kya's throat.

She is ice cold.

* * *

Today is Katara's twentieth birthday. Her father is deployed, her brother at college over an hour away, her Grandmother at her condo in Florida, and her mother buried in the earth 200 miles away.

She is sitting outside of a coffee shop in the central part of downtown. She sips a mocha and tries to remain unseen by the surrounding people. The cool fall weather is almost seeping into her bones so she wears jeans, her favorite boots, a beanie covering her head and hair, sunglasses, and an old worn out hoodie to hide underneath. She observes the surrounding area. She is always on alert.

Katara has a large notebook sitting on the table in front of her and a pencil in her hand. She is sketching the people around her. Several feet away there are a few young children playing near the fountain in the middle of the outdoor shopping area. She senses every movement of the water. Every drip and every splash.

Over the past nine years her power has only grown stronger. And Katara still refuses to use it. The last time she had voluntarily used it was to heal herself all those years ago. Sure, sometimes the bath water sways with her motions and sometimes the ice cubes in her drink swallow one another but she is sure those instances are random bursts of energy due to years and years of suppressing it. She cannot willingly use such a power that has cost her mothers life.

She can feel the water in the clouds overhead, the liquids in the coffee cups that surround her, the water coming from every pipe, every sprinkler, even the water in the air. She can sill feel a pull to it but she has been drowning that desire for so long that it doesn't affect her any longer.

She wonders if there are others like her out there but she can't even begin to search for them. She doesn't know where to start. Her mother had tried and now she's got her own grave.

Katara sighs and begins to pack up her notebook and pencils. She's spent enough time at this coffee shop so it is time to head back home.

She stands with her items in hand and walks around a few tables to head towards her apartment just up the street.

Before she can get too far, a child's scream interrupts the courtyard. "MOMMY!"

She whips around to see a child in the fountain screaming. And a few feet away from said child is another one drowning in the water.

Something takes over her. She doesn't even recall commanding it. She drops her notebook and spreads her fingers. She points her hands down to the ground and lifts her arms slowly. The water that the child is drowning in lifts out of the fountain and spits the child out onto the cement gently. She drops her hands to her sides.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, is staring at her. The mother runs to her child, coddling him and drying his tears. The other patrons, maybe forty or fifty people, all staring at her. Katara can't believe what she's just done. Something came over her and it just happened. Eyes wide and mouth agape, she leaves her notebook on the ground and turns to run.

She makes it past the other shops and into the neighborhood of apartment buildings and small homes. She turns down an alley where no one will see her. She runs past a dumpster when a hand reaches out and grabs her by the bicep. It's warm and it stops her from her retreat. Her feet slam to a stop before she trips over herself and she turns, furious to see who has stopped her.

She meets a boy. A very handsome boy if she allows herself to think so. His hand is very warm, almost comforting, and his eyes are pure gold. He has a maroon scar covering the entire right side of his face and black shaggy hair falling into his eyes.

"Come with me." He says. She thinks he sounds desperate.

She starts to shake her head and he stops her.

"I can protect you." With that he lifts his left hand and produces a flame. An actual flame. She looks from the flame back to his face. He signals for her to follow him so she does. He leads her to a car parked in the garage behind them. It's a nice car. A red one at that. She gets in without saying a word. It looks like his windows are tinted. I guess that works in their favor. He starts the car and floors it. She doesn't know where they are going and doesn't know what think of what just happened but she can't help but feel safe with this stranger.

He gets out of the garage and turns onto the side street.

"Who are you? How did you do that thing you did and where are we going?" She asks, her brain finally catching up with the rest of her.

"We don't have much time until they find out who you are, find out where you live and come looking for you. Where is your place? We should stop so you can grab necessities." He speaks softly with her. Katara tries to catch her breath. This is all happening way too fast.

"My building is right up the street on the corner of Balton and Riverside." She all but whispers.

She tuns to look at him. His skin is very pale in comparison to hers. The shape of his face is immaculate. He looks like he's been sculpted by an artist.

"Who are you?" She tries again.

"My name is Zuko.

* * *

 _"Well my heart is_ _ **gold**_ _but my hands are_ _ **cold**_ _..."  
_ [Gasoline by Halsey]

The first time I listened to this song-I made up this story line in my head.  
INSTANTLY.  
I will be adding a few more chapters to this.  
Hope you enjoy it.


End file.
